As a Black woman from rural Georgia and the first person in her immediate family to graduate college, Danitra Wansley was driven to find a field that would allow her to serve the communities that needed her most.

Q & A

What led you to apply to Teach For America?

I wanted to work toward educational justice in communities that needed it and support kids before they ran into legal issues, so I decided to focus on the school side of the school-to-prison pipeline. I knew I had to become a teacher to be effective in education. I was drawn to TFA’s professional development and support of education reform in New Orleans specifically.

When you think about yourself before and after the corps, what changed?

Before the corps, I thought about education in terms of theory. During the corps, I learned that education is far more complex than I had previously thought, especially regarding policy. Serving as a corps member challenged me to embrace the "Level 5 Leadership" concept—a spirit of profound humility coupled with intense professional will.  

How have you used the skills and beliefs you developed in the corps?

At TFA, I learned skills in two years that might have otherwise taken me 10 to develop. Moreover, they are skills I still use today: time management, relationship development, cross-curricular writing skills, and how to develop intrinsic motivation in others.